
Qass. 
Book. 



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,^{'6 



THE CtEORCtIA question 



RKKORK THK 



Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate 



y^o 

^■6-^ 



OF 



Hon- J^ H. CALDWELL 



AND 



HON. J. E. BRYANT. 



Thp dplegation was composed of the following gentlemen ; 

Hon. J. E. BRYANT, ] 

Hon. T. H. CALDWELL, i ,, , r , r ■, 

_ r Member.': of the Legislature. 

Hon. C. K. OSGOOD, { ■' ^ 

Hon. a. J. WILLIAMS, J 

Hon. N. L. ANGIER, State Treamrer. 

Col. JOHN BOWLES. 



W.^tiHINGTON, L». C. 
GIBSON BROTHERS, PRINTERS. 

1870. 



,Cl3 



Mr. Caldwell, addressing the committee in belialf of the 
delegation, said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Judicia^-y Committee : 
We are Georgians, and as such come to represent our State 
in one of the most critical emergencies that has ever fallen 
to the lot of any State in this great Kepublic. Although we 
are all Kepublicans, and could, were it necessary, recount 
toils, sacrifices, and perils attending our efforts to establish 
a Republican party in our State ; yet, for the time being, we 
cease to be mere partisans, and appeal to you as Georgians, 
concerned for the well-being of our State and the future peace 
and prosperity of our people. We propose, therefore, in the 
name and behalf of those whom, as a delegation, we rep^re- 
sent, to present a plain, unvarnished statement of facts, with 
the inferences which they convey, trusting to your wisdom 
to devise a remedy for existing evils, and to your sense of 
justice to redress the wrongs of which we complain. 

Georgia, as you are aware, proceeded to carry out in good 
faith the reconstruction acts of the 39th Congress. A con- 
vention framed a constitution, which was submitted to the 
people for their ratification, It was ratified by a large ma- 
jority ; the great mass of the voters, some two hundred thou- 
sand in number, participating in the election. It was as 
free and impartial as any election that was ever held in 
Georgia, the polls being protected generally under the mili- 
tary supervision of Major General Meade, the district com- 
mander. At the same time a Governor, county officers, 
members of Congress, forty-four State senators, and one 
hundred and seventy-three representatives were elected ; two 
counties, entitled to one member each, making no returns. 
The constitution being submitted to Congress, was, in tlie 



main, approved by that body^ and an act was passed declar- 
ing the State of Georgia entitled to representation in Con- 
gress whenever the legislature should adopt certain funda- 
mental conditions. 

On tlie 25th June, 1868, General Meade issued a procla- 
mation convening the members elect at Atlanta, on the 4th 
July following. Tlie names of those who were declared 
elected by General Meade appear in that proclamation, and 
it is printed in the journal of the House of Representatives 
for 1868, which we herewith present for your inspection. 
The members were sworn in by Judge Erskine, in the pres- 
ence of General Meade and Rufus B. Bullock, Governor elect, 
who was acting at the time as Provisional Governor. Each 
member was sworn to support the Constitution of the United 
States and of the State of Georgia. No other oath was re- 
quired. The omission of any other was in consequence of 
the advice of certain members of the Reconstruction Com- 
mittee, and approved by General Grant. From that time 
each member was bound, in all the subsequent legislation in 
which he participated, by his oath to support the constitu- 
tion of the State, and we are not aware that Congress has 
l)assed any act since then that released him from the obliga- 
tion of that oath. No question was raised, either at the time 
the members were qualified or before, as to the eligibility 
of any of them on any ground whatever, but all who were 
named in the proclamation were allowed to qualify. Each 
house proceeded to elect and qualify its officers. The presi- 
dent and all the other officers of the senate were regular 
nominees of the Republican party. The house elected the 
Republican nominee for speaker, and then adjourned until 
I\[onday, the 6th July. The members split up and divided 
on the other officers, the Democrats electing the clerk and 
messenger, and the Republicans the door-keeper. On a 
joint ballot, as afterwards appeared, tlie Republicans had a 
clear majority of thirteen. 

As soon as the two houses were organized, Provisional 
(Governor l5ullock suggested to General Meade that there 



were persons holding seats in each hotise who were in- 
eligible under the fourteenth article, and the General 
ordered both houses to suspend all other business and pro- 
ceed to inquire into the eligibility of the members. A 
resolution was adopted by each house, after the investigation, 
declaring all the members eligible. This was done when 
there was a clear Republican majority in each branch, else 
neither could have elected its Eepublican nominees. The 
result was not due, therefore, as has been charged, to a dis- 
loyal temper on the part of a majority of either house. In 
all elections in either house, or both conjointly, the members 
were called eo nomine, by the proper officer, and they 
voted viva voce, as the constitution requires. General 
Meade approved the course of each house in the investiga- 
tion and determining of the question of eligibility, and the 
legislature immediately ratified the fourteenth article, and 
adopted the fundamental conditions required by Congress. 
Hon. Eufus B. Bullock was then inaugurated as the perma- 
nent Governor, he swem'ing to support the Constitution of the 
United States and of the State of Georgia. His term of office^ 
according to an ordinance of the convention, providing for 
the first election under the new constitution, was to extend 
from the time of his inauguration till four years from the 
following January, or until January, 1873, when his suc- 
cessor^ to be elected in November preceding, should be 
qualified. One-half of the senators were to hold till Jan- 
uary, 1873, when their successors should be qualified, and 
the other half, with all the representatives, until January, 
1871. 

The theory of his Excellency now is, that the late act of 
Congress for promoting reconstruction in Georgia invali- 
dates all acts of the legislature which preceded it, and that 
consequently his own term of office is extended till four years 
from next January ; the term of one-half of the senators is 
extended for the same period_, and the terms of the other 
half, and of all the representatives, till January, 1873^, thus 
giving to all an extension of two years beyond the time meant 



6 

by the constitutional convention or intended by their constit- 
uencies. Such is the pretension based upon the plain and 
simple act passed by Congress in December last. But it 
will be well to show how inconsistent such a presumption is 
with former declarations and acts of his Excellency. 

In his inaugural address, he congratulated the country on 
the completion of reconstruction in Georgia! The same day 
he gave a banquet, rejoicing with his friends over the resto- 
ration of the State to her place in the Union. But, mark 
you, this was before the election of United States Senators. 
*In due time that election was held, and the result was 
different from what his Excellency anticipated. Hon. 
Joshua Hill, a distinguished Union man, and a liepublican, 
was elected for the long term. Hon. H. V. M. Miller, an old 
Whig, a member of the Constitutional Convention, an 
earnest friend of reconstruction^ chairman of the committee 
appointed to revise the work of the eight committees to whom 
was assigned the different parts of the constitution, advocat- 
ing before the people the ratification of the new constitution, 
was elected to the short term. This was done without any 
concert or agreement between them, Mr. Hill's supporters 
on the first ballot being only Union men and Republicans. 
Leaving off all those who voted for Mr. Miller, who have 
since been declared ineligible, he had a clear majority of 
three. By the same rule, Hon. Joseph E. Brown, the 
regular Republican nominee, got a majority of one. (See 
Appendix.) 

Governor Bullock certified officially to the election ol" 
Messrs. Hill and Miller, and in his certificate declared that 
they were legally elected. 

After the election of senators the legislature went into an 
election for State house officers, and all the Republican 
nominees were elected — still showing that the composition of 
the legislature was decidedly Republican. H' all who, since 
their election, have been declared ineligible, are counted 
off, as in the estimate made for the Senators, it will be seen 
that they were all elected by a majority of the voters. Thus 



the Governor's favorite plea for a re-election of State house 
ofticers, viz: that there were ineligible members in both 
houses who voted in those elections, cannot avail him for 
setting their election aside, for they were elected in spite of 
the ineligible members, not one of whom voted for them. 
For proof of this, I refer you to the journals of the two 
houses. In various ways, but especially in all liis public 
official acts and signatures, Governor Bullock did recognize 
or assume the validity of the first organization of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, General Meade did the same ; Congress did 
the same ; at any rate the House of Representatives, in the 
very act by which certain Representatives from Georgia were 
seated. 

This statement of facts thus far covers about two months — 
we think about sixty-five days from the first meeting of the 
General Assembly on the 4th July, 1868. During this time 
elections were held, and many acts were passed by the legis- 
lature, some of them involving grave financial interests, 
and yet no one ever suggested the idea, nor did any one 
dream that the idea ever would be suggested, that the legis- 
lature was illegally organized, or that any act had been 
done that in the slightest degree vitiated its proceedings. 

Then, in the montli of September, came the expulsion of 
the colored members. That act we have ever regarded as un- 
constitutional and unjust, and do not defend or excuse it. 
But we would respectfully ask you to consider the dangerous 
use which has been made of it by the Governor and those 
who are acting in concert with him. He has evidently made 
it the grand salient point from which to reach results which 
he would gladly have had some excuse to secure without it. 
He has made it the occasion to ask Congress to })ass a law 
giv/ig into his hands the most extraordinary powers, powers 
wh ^'^ I he has seen fit to assume, although the act passed by 
Co 6^" ess does not grant them. The colored members were 
ex/o^'ed partly by Republican votes, and that under the 
J..1I av of a speaker of the house of representatives who was 
C^* ^^ nor Bullock's favorite candidate in the recent election 



8 

for speaker. Some Republicans voted with the Democrats 
for their expulsion^ and others refused to vote at all. Some 
of those who voted for their expulsion, and a number of 
those who refused to vote at all, are now with his Excellency 
asking that all former proceedings of the legislature be set 
aside as invalid; while with us there are some who defended 
the colored members in the house, and voted against their 
expulsion, and we beseech you to see that the act of Con- 
gress is carried out strictly, in good faith, without any per- 
version of its meaning or violation of its provisions. The 
Governor has made the expulsion of the colored members 
the occasion for the accomplishment of purposes which lie 
deeper than was anticipated by Congress when they passed 
the act of December last. It has long been manifest to some 
true men of the Republican party in Georgia, that a restora- 
tion of the colored members and the purging of the legisla- 
ture were only ostensible, or, at best, but subordinate objects. 
Some ground has been eagerly sought after on which he 
might not only secure a reorganization of tlie legislature, 
but the ripping up of every act preceding that reorganiza- 
tion, and he assumes that he has authority under the recent 
act of Congress to accomplish that object, and he comes here 
to ask that you tolerate his assumption. He has proceeded 
without a single check in the execution of his purpose, and 
lie wishes still to pursue his object without restraint. His 
assumption is this : that the late act of Congress makes the 
whole State government, as constituted under the administra- 
tion of General Meade, a nullity ; that there has been no meet- 
ing of the legislature elected in April, 1868, except the one 
which he was authorized by the late act to convene ; tliat 
this is its first session ; that there has been no legal election 
of United States Senators or State house officers, and, that, 
per consequence, all the official terms must be extendjjd two 
years beyond what was intended at the time of the eslption. 
Such is his theory of the prese it status of our civil m^t'^rn- 
ment. Other consequences must follow as the practib set^^ct 
of this theory. There are thr ;e justices of the suprenTi^jirt, 



9 

seventeen judges of the superior court, and the same number 
of solicitors general, all of whom are nominated by the Gov- 
ernor. Besides these, there is a large number of notaries 
public, who are ex-qfficio justices of the peace, appointed by 
the Governor. All these must be removed and their places 
filled by reappointments. Thus, his theory sweeps down our 
entire judiciary as at present organized. But this is not 
the worst. We have eminent jurists, whose reputation for 
ability is co-extensive with our country. Some of these, and 
other high officials, have become personally objectionable to 
his Excellency, and he wishes you to let him displace them 
by the practical operation of his theory. He would have their 
places vacated under the operation of your act, that he may 
fill them with his new favorites. 

Sad as are these consequences of the Governor's assumption, 
there are others which are most pernicious to a body of legis- 
lators. A personal friend of his Excellency, a leading mem- 
ber of the Senate, on the first day of the present session, the 
10th of January, was explaining to me what the effect of the 
Governor's theory would be, including all the points I have 
mentioned ; and emphasizing that which relates to an exten- 
sion of the official terms, especially of membership in the 
legislature, he added, with an air of triumph: "And you 
know that the members will not vote themselves out of the legis- 
lature luhen they have the chance to remain in for ttuo years 
longer." I give the substance of the remark, but I have 
seen with what effect the idea was circulated among the 
members, and I know that his Excellency is too skilful a 
politician not to take advantage of such an inducement to 
gain adherents to his theory. But what must the country 
think, and what must be the effect upon the Republican 
party throughout the nation, if Congress should lend its 
sanction to an extension of the terms of office in a State 
under such circumstances ? We trust that, in the wisdom 
of your honorable committee, measures may be taken which 
will avert the calamity that we fear would ensue. 

It is inconceivable that honorable Senators and Represent- 



10 

atives could ever have meant that their act should serve the 
double purpose to which the Governor has turned it. It is 
inconceivable that they would lend the influence of their 
great names to a plain measure to do only certain things, 
and at the same time have a covert design that it should be 
used to accomplish other things besides those expressly en- 
joined ; in short, to require nothing more than to reseat 
the expelled members, purge the legislature of ineligible 
members, and ratify the fifteenth article^ and at the same 
time purpose that the Governor should use it to overturn 
the government that had been previously established. The 
Governor had no authority from the act of Congress to call 
upon any one to expound the oath contained in it, nor to 
appoint a clerk 2wo tem. to organize the house, nor to claim 
that he is merely a provisional governor, nor to treat the 
legislature as a provisional legislature, nor to prevent any 
one from taking one of the prescribed oaths, nor to invoke 
the aid of the military in investigating the eligibility of 
members, nor to put out of the legislature any one who 
might be declared ineligible by a body unknown to the law, 
nor to put others in the places of those who were thus de- 
clared ineligible, nor to require the re-ratification of the 
fourteenth amendment, or re-adoption of the fundamental 
conditions required by the 40th Congress. Yet, assuming 
that he had all these powers conferred upon him by that act, 
he has been guilty of the following flagrant violations of 
tlie law : 

1. In calling upon Attorney General Farrow to give 
a written opinion of the scope of the oath required by 
Congress. 

2. In endeavoring, by the operation of that opinion, which 
was published in the Atlanta papers the day before tlie legis- 
lature convened, to deter some members from taking tlie 
oath who were not excluded by the fourteenth amendment. 
This was done under a mere semblance of authority, for in 
reality it had no more than the opinion of any private indi- 
vidual ; but the approval of General Terry caused it to assume 



11 

a gravity wliicli would not otherwise be attributed to it. 
Why should this unauthorized opinion be so extensively 
promulgated, when that of Attorney General Hoar, which 
has authority, has been withheld? 

3. By the appointment of A. L. Harris, one of his Excel- 
lency's employees on the State road, as clerk ^ro tern., to or- 
ganize the house. As each member was sworn to support 
the State constitution^ and the Code was adopted by that 
constitution as the law of the State, and the act failing 
to point out an officer who should organize the house^ the 
Code, in sections 169 and 170, shows how it should be 
organized. 

4. By appointing a registrar in bankruptcy to swear in 
the members. The Code requires that it should be done by 
a judge of the supreme or superior courts. 

5. By ordering the arbitrary ruling of the clerk ^jro tem., 
who refused to entertain a motion from any member^ even 
on questions pertaining to the organization; who adjourned 
the house whenever he pleased, from time to time, without a 
motion from any member ; and who showed, throughout, a 
determination to have an organization which should be, as 
far as possible, subservient to the schemes of the Governor. 

6. Asking for a military commission to investigate the 
eligibility of members. 

7. By preventing a number of persons in both houses from 
qualifying, who, according to the decision of the board in 
other cases, would have been declared eligible. 

8. By delaying the organization of the house, and harass- 
ing members who were afterwards declared eligible, causing 
them to appear before a board of officers not provided for by 
law, to sit in judgment upon their eligibility. 

y. By causing some who had qualified to be prohibited 
from taking part in the organization of their respective 
houses. 

10. By causing two persons, Mr. Wilcher and Mr. Ben- 
nett, who were declared eligible, from participating in the 
organization of the house. ■ 



12 

11. By invokiog the aid of the military under pretence of 
enforcing and executing the provisions of the act. no resist- 
ance being offered to the organization of either house under 
the act. On the contrary, all the members showed a 
willingness to organize in strict conformity to its provisions, 
and the only opposition which was manifested was to the 
illegal manner of the proceedings. 

12. The manner in which his Excellency suffered persons 
to be intimidated and prevented from qualifying is illus- 
trated in the case of some who were threatened, so that they 
became apprehensive of being harassed by prosecutions if 
they should take the oath. Inducements were held out to 
some of them, which caused them unwarily to commit them- 
selves to positions which seemed to imply a confession of 
ineligibility. They were advised to make application to 
Congress for a relief from disabilities, when, in fact, when 
their cases were properly understood^ they had none. Prom- 
ises were held out that in a short time Congress would 
relieve them, and they could then take their seats. They 
were not aware of the deception by which they Avere tricked 
out of their rights until General Terry's order. No. 9, 
declared that such applications for relief Avere confessions of 
ineligibility. 

13. By allowing a senator who had taken the oath to 
withdraw the same from the office of the secretary of State, 
thus removing a document that might be needed as evidence 
in case of a prosecution for perjury. 

14. By admitting a number of persons in both houses to 
seats who had not been elected by popular majorities. The 
only shadow of law for such a proceeding is in the 121st 
section of the Code. This section does not refer to members 
of the legislature at all, for the following reasons : 

1. The officers referred to in this section are executive 
officers, intrusted with the execution of the laws — they are not 
legislators, charged with the making of laws. The Code is 
divided into different " Parts ;" each ''Part" into " Titles;" 
each ''Title" into "Chapters," "Articles," and " Sections." 



13 

Sections sometimes have several subdivisions, as the 120th 
the one immediately preceding the one in question, and closely 
connected with it. This section is in " Title" three, headed 
''Executive Department;" Title four is the "Legislative 
Department," and contains no such provision. 

2. The officers alluded to are such as a plurality of votes 
may elect, but there is no law in Georgia which declares 
that a plurality may elect a member of the legislature. I 
challenge the learned judges, who are, with the Governor, 
here to-day, to point you to the section in our Code that says 
a plurality can elect a member to the legislature. 

3. The officer whose place may be filled by tlie person 
having the next highest number of votes must be one who 
is ineligible under the rules laid down in section 120. Seven 
classes of persons are there declared to be ineligible to office, 
and the 14th Article is not enumerated among them. 

4. It is unconstitutional to apply this section to a member 
of the legislature, for the constitution gives to each house 
the sole right to decide upon the qualifications of its members, 
and neither the Code nor any legislative enactment can 
deprive either house of that right. 

5. The officers referred to are such as are " commissioned ;" 
but members of the legislature are not commissioned. 

6. There is no precedent in the history of parliamentary 
l)roceedings to warrant such action. 

]5. Others who did not belong to the Governor's party, 
who were in precisely the same circumstances, presented 
themselves, and when a motion was made to swear them in, 
the speaker ruled it out of order, saying that he had received 
no orders to do so. 

Finally, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, 
we beseech you, in behalf of more than a million of our fel- 
low-citizens, to save Georgia from the consequences of so 
many flagrant violations of the law. We entreat you that 
the Executive of our State may not be permitted, under a 
pretence of enforcing law, to override and disregard the plain 
provisions of the law of Congress. We ask that the wron"-s 



14 

inflicted by the Governor may be redressed. We beseech 
you not to suffer the financial interests of a great but un- 
fortunate State to be placed so completely at the mercy of 
one who has shown such a reckless disregard of law. We 
pray you to rescue our State from a ruin and degradation 
that has scarcely been equalled in Poland or Ireland. 



APPENDIX 



The following members of the senate were declared ineli- 
gible : Anderson, Graham, Moore, Winn, and Collier — 5. 

The following members of the house were declared ineli- 
gible : Burtz, Crawford, Drake, Donaldson, Brinson,* Ellis, 
of Spalding; George, Goff, HHdson_, Johnson, of Wilcox; 
Kellogg, Meadows, Nunn, Penland, House, Smith, of 
Coffee; Surreney, Taliaferro, Williams, of Dooly, McCullough, 
and Long — 21. 

Bradley, of the senate, had been declared ineligible as a 
convicted felon, under the constitution of Georgia, before the 
colored members were expelled. 

Upon the election of Senators for the long term — 
Mr. Hill received 110 votes. 
Mr. Brown received 94 votes. 
Mr. Stephens received 1 vote. 
Mr. Styles received 1 vote. 

Of the persons declared ineligible, Mr. Hill received the 
votes of the following : 

Anderson and Moore in the senate, in the house, he re- 
ceived the votes of Burtz, Crawford, Drake, Donaldson, 
Ellis, of Spalding ; George, Goff, Hudson, Johnson, of 
Wilcox; Kellogg, Meadows, Nunn, Penland, Rouse, Talia- 
ferro, and Williams, of Dooly, Long,t and McCullough — 
total, 20. These deducted from his entire vote leave 90 
votes of persons admitted to be eligible. 

The vote cast for Mr. Styles was by Mr. Graham, who 
was declared ineligible. 

Of persons declared ineligible, Mr. Brown received the 
votes of Surreney and Bradley. 

■■ Collier aud Brinsoii did not vote for Miller. 

t Mr. Long was sick at home, but can take the oath. Mr. Thouiasson, the per- 
son getting the next highest number of votes, has been seated in his place. 



16 

The vote of the eligible members would stand thus— 
Hill, 90. 
Brown, 92. 
Stephens, 1. 

In the election of senator for the short term, the table in 
the journal of the house of representatives shows that — 

Mr. Miller has 120 votes ; but upon counting the names of 
tlie persons recorded as voting, it appears tliat he received 
117 votes. 

Mr. Blodgett received 72 votes. 

Mr. Seward received 13 votes. 

Mr. Akerman received 6 votes. 

Of the persons declared ineligible, Mr, Miller received the 
votes of the following : 

Anderson, Graham, Moore, and Winn, of the senate ; 
Burtz, Crawford, Drake, Donaldson, Ellis, of Spalding; 
George, Goff, Hudson, Johnson, of Wilcox ; Kellogg, Mead- 
ows, Nunn, Penland, Rouse, Smith, of Coffee; Surreney, 
Taliaferro, Williams, of Dooly, Long, and McCuUough ; 
total, 24. These subtracted from his entire vote leave him 
98 votes of those admitted to be eligible. 

Mr. Blodgett received, of ineligible persons, one vote — 
Bradley, of the senate. 

Of persons declared eligible — 

Mr. Miller received 93 

Mr. Blodgett 71 

Mr. Seward 13 

Mr . Akerman fi 

t 

90 

Making Mr. Miller a majority, of all who are admitted to 

be eligible, of three. All this will appear from the journal 

of the house of representatives herewith submitted to the 

Judiciary Committee. 



HOK. J. E. BRYANT, 

OF GEORGIA, 

Before the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate, 



Mr. Bryant said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Judiciary Committee; 

A citizen of Georgia, a Republican member of the General 
Assembly of that State, I appear before you to inform you 
that the act of Congress, passed on the 22d day of December 
last, to promote the reconstruction of the State of Georgia, 
has been violated in the organization of the General Assem- 
bly of that State_, and to ask that you will vindicate your 
authority, and prove to the people of Georgia, of the South, 
and of the country, that you will require Republicans, as 
well as Democrats, to obey your laws. 

My friend, Mr. Caldwell, has alluded to the reasons that 
prompted you to pass the Georgia bill. 

The reconstruction acts were violated by the General As- 
sembly of Georgia. Legally elected members of the legisla- 
ture were excluded from seats in that body, and men not 
entitled to seats were admitted and allowed to participate in 
its proceedings. Mr. Caldwell and myself were the only 
white members of the House of Representatives who made 
speeches in opposition to the expulsion of the colored mem- 
bers ; we voted against their expulsion ; we protested against 
the action of the house in expelling them ; we appealed to 
Congress to reseat them ; but we were opposed to the effort 
of Governor Bullock to induce Congress to require the mem- 
bers of the General Assembly to take the test oath, and we, 
therefore, opposed the bills of Mr. Sumner, of the Senate, 
and Mr. Butler, of the House ; but we favored the bill intro- 
duced into the Senate by Mr. Edmunds and the bill of Mr. 
Carpenter. In other words, we desired that the colored 



18 

members of our General Assembly should be reseated, and 
that those members who were ineligible under the fourteenth 
amendment should be expelled, but we were opposed to any 
further Congressional action. 

In accordance with the provisions of the late act of Con- 
gress to promote the reconstruction of the State of Georgia, 
Governor Bullock issued a proclamation, and summoned all 
persons elected to the General Assembly of said State, as 
appears by the proclamation of General Meade, to appear on 
the 1st day of January, at Atlanta, for the purpose of organ- 
izing in conformity with the said act of Congress. 

Section first of said act is in these words : 

" jBe it enacted, cDc, That the Governor of the State of 
Georgia be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed forth- 
with, by proclamation, to summon all persons elected to the 
General Assembly of said State, as appears by the proclama- 
tion of George G. Meade, the General commanding the 
military district, including the State of Georgia, dated June 
25th, 1868, to appear on some day certain, to be named in 
said proclamation, at Atlanta, in said State ; and thereupon 
the said General Assembly of said State shall proceed to 
perfect its organization, in conformity with the Constitution 
and laws of the United States, according to the provisions of 
this act." 

The " .said General Assembly," mentioned in the ninth 
line of the above section, evidently refers to the persons 
elected to the General Assembly of Georgia, as appears by 
the proclamation of General Meade, and the act declares that 
when they meet, they shall proceed to perfect tJieii^ oivii or- 
ganization. The exact language is, " and thereupon the said 
General Assembly shall proceed to perfect its organization 
in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United 
States, according to the provisions of this act." In violation 
of that section. Governor Bullock directed one A. L. Harris, 
the supervisor of the Western and Atlantic railroad, a road 
belonging to the State of Georgia, to act as clerk or speaker 
pro tern, during the organization of the house of represen- 
tatives. Mr. Harris is an appointee of Governor Bullock, 



19 

and can be removed by the Governor at pleasure ; he was, 
therefore, completely under the control of the Governor. By 
direction of the Governor, Mr. Harris assumed the right to 
adjourn the house when he pleased. The members were 
not allowed to participate in the proceedings, except to take 
the oath required. 

Soon after the General Assembly met, on the 10th day of 
January, by direction of Mr. Supervisor Harris, an attempt 
was made to read an opinion of the attorney general of 
Georgia in regard to the eligibility of members under the 
Georgia bill. Many members believed that the opinion had 
been prepared by direction of Governor Bullock for the pur- 
pose of hindering and interrupting persons duly elected 
from taking the oath prescribed by the act of Congress. The 
attorney general is not regarded by the legal profession of 
Georgia as a lawyer of great ability, and it is well known 
that he has been a strong partisan of the Governor. He 
enumerated a large number of officers whom he declared 
ineligible under the said act. His opinion was endorsed by 
the General commanding the district of Georgia, General A. 
H. Terry, an able soldier, and I believe a pure-minded and 
conscientious gentleman ; but the ablest lawyers in Georgia, 
among whom were Chief Justice Brown and Associate 
Justice Warner, held that the opinion was erroneous. The 
opinion was published in the Atlanta papers the day before 
the General Assembly met, and a copy of one of the papers 
containing the opinion was placed on the desk of every 
member. It was also published as a circular, and a copy was 
sent in an envelope to each member. It was currently 
reported that the Governor would prosecute for perjury any 
person who took the prescribed oaths who were in the opinion 
of the attorney general ineligible, although they might be 
deemed eligible by the ablest lawyers in the State ; and it 
was announced in the daily papers of Atlanta that able 
counsel had been retained to prosecute these men. The 
friends of Governor Bullock prepared a list of persons whom 
they declared ineligible, and threatened to prosecute any 



20 

person whose name was on the list who should qualify, by 
taking the prescribed oaths. A colored member was selected 
to present a protest against any person taking the prescribed 
oaths, whose name was on the list. The members were 
required by Governor Bullock to take the oaths publicly^ 
although many of them had previously qualified and 
filed these oaths in the office of the secretary of State, as 
required by law. I have been unable to find in the act 
of Congress any authority for this interference on the part 
of the Governor. As members, whose names were on this 
list, came forward to the clerk's desk and took the oaths 
prescribed by Congress, the colored member who had been 
selected for that purpose presented a protest, which was 
read. These protests were printed, having been carefully 
prepared beforehand. I do not believe that an intelligent 
member of the house doubted but that the reading of the 
opinion of the attorney general, endorsed as it was by the 
military commander, the presentation and reading of the 
protests, and the threat to prosecute for perjury, were in- 
tended to hinder or interrupt members from taking the pre- 
scribed oaths. I know that men, who conscientiously be- 
lieved that they could take the oaths, were deterred from 
doing so. They were unwilling to pay the expense of a trial 
for perjury, and endure the mental excitement that they 
would suffer during the trial. It is impossible for me 
to convey to your minds a correct idea of the means re- 
sorted to by Gov. Bullock and his friends on that day to 
prevent men, who were opposed to their schemes, from taking 
the prescribed oaths. Presiding over, and directing the 
whole affair, was Foster Blodgett, the evil genius of Georgia 
at present, the superintendent of the Western and Atlantic 
railroad, by appointment of Gov. Bullock. As the attempt 
was being made to prevent men from committing perjury (?) 
by the reading of the opinion of the attorney general, 
the reading of the protests, and by other means, which it 
was necessary to see to understand, and which it is iraposi- 
sible for me to describe, he sat near Mr. Supervisor Harris, 



21 

a man who held office under him on the State road, direct- 
ing the whole affiair. At that moment Mr. Blodgett was 
himself under indictment for perjury in the United States 
court for having falsely taken the "iron-clad" oath to get 
an office, and perhaps (?) for that reason he was anxious 
that other men should not be similarly situated. 

I was indignant at this open and wilful violation of the 
law of Congress, and I objected to the course adopted to 
intimidate members. I felt that the Republican party and 
Congress were being used to further the ends of corrupt meu. 
I love the cause advocated by the Republican party as I do 
my life. I perilled my life on the battle-field to save my 
country, and love the party that conducted the Government 
during the dark days of rebellion almost as I do the flag of my 
country. Do you wonder, then, that I was indignant when 
I saw that party being used by wicked men, as I thought, 
to gratify their ambition and plunder my adopted State? 
Do you wonder that I, a Northern man and a Union soldier, 
was indignant when I saw my party thus disgraced in the 
eyes of Southern men, some of whom had fought in the Con- 
federate army, when the whole scheme was directed by a 
man then under indictment for perjury — a man who had 
fought in the rebel army, and who had assisted to organize 
a vigilance committee to murder Union men f 

Mr. Harris would not recognize my right to speak, al- 
though I was a duly elected member of the house and he was 
not, and had no legal right to be where he was. I dis- 
puted his right to dictate to me, a representative of the 
people, and he ordered two fellows to arrest me, whom he 
called sergeants-at-arms. I refused to be arrested by them, 
and one of them drew a pistol to shoot me. There was a 
scene of confusion which I will not attempt to describe. It 
is said that I was excited. I presume I was, if the indigna- 
tion I felt manifested itself in my appearance. It was evi- 
dent that a majority of the members were opposed to the 
course pursued by Blodgett, Harris, and their allies, and we 
appealed to General Terry. He pronounced their proceed- 



22 

ings outrageous, and prevented the further reading of the 
protests. The enormity of the oflfence will be apparent to 
you when you remember that we were duly elected repre- 
sentatives of the people, summoned in conformity with a law 
of Congress to meet and organize the house to which we be- 
longed, and that a man acting without authority of law as- 
sumed to dictate to us what we should say, and because we re- 
fused to recognize his authority appointed men to arrest us — 
men who had no more right to do so than the man who appointed 
them. Do you ask why we permitted this man thus to vio- 
late your law ? I answer, that General Terry endorsed the 
action of Governor Bullock, and thus behind this man Har- 
ris stood the military power of this Republic. Suppose that 
President Johnson, a few months ago, when he wished to 
control the action of Congress, had been able to overpower 
the majority by military force, what would have been the re- 
sult ? What would have become of our liberties ? General 
Terry put a stop to some of the arbitrary acts of Harris, but 
our organization was delayed, and Harris refused to allow 
the house to perfect its organization in conformity with law, 
according to the provision of the act of Congress. The or- 
ganization of the house would have been perfected in two 
days but for the illegal interference of Governor Bullock. It 
was, however, eighteen days before it was organized. During 
that time there was not a day passed but that the act of Con- 
gress was openly, wilfully violated. 
Section 4 of said act is in these words : 

^'And he it further enacted, That the persons elected, as 
aforesaid, are entitled to compose such legislature, and who 
shall comply with the provisions of this act by taking one of 
the oaths or affirmations above prescribed, shall thereupon 
proceed in such senate and house of representatives to which 
they have been elected respectively to reorganize said senate 
and house of representatives respectively by the election and 
qualification of the proper officers of each house." 

If I understand the above section, all persons elected to 
the General Assembly, as appears by the proclamation of 



23 

General Meade, who complied with the provisions of the act 
by taking the prescribed oaths, were entitled to participate 
in the reorganization of the General Assembly. 

It will be noticed that section 1 of said act provides that 
the persons elected, as appears by the proclamation of General 
Meade, shall organize, in order that the prescribed oaths may 
be taken. Section 4 provides that '' the persons elected as 
aforesaid who shall comply with the provisions of the act by 
taking one of the oaths prescribed by said act shall reorgan- 
ize." It appears clear to my mind that the intention of Con- 
gress was to allow the persons named in the said proclama- 
tion of General Meade to organize by the election of temporary 
officers for the purpose of " swearing in " the members, and 
that those persons named in said proclamation who should 
take the prescribed oaths should proceed to reorganize by the 
election of permanent officers. If this is not the meaning, 
I must confess that I do not understand its meaning. If 
that was the intention of Congress, you must admit that the 
action of Governor Bullock, of Mr, Harris, and of General 
Terry, who sustained them, was unauthorized by law. In 
other words, that they violated the law and usurped au- 
thority. 

General Terry organized a military commission to inquire 
into the eligibility of members of said General Assembly 
who, in conformity with law, had taken the prescribed oaths ; 
and he ordered men not to participate in the proceedings of 
the senate and house of representatives, to which they had 
been elected respectively, who had qualified according to law. 
He decided that three members of the house and two mem- 
bers of the Senate who had duly qualified should not partici- 
pate in the organization. I have examined the act of 
Congress in vain to find the authority to organize a military 
commission for such a purpose. 

Before the General Assembly was organized, persons were 
allowed to take the seats of some of the members who failed 
to qualify, upon the ground that they had the next highest 
number of votes. That was done in violation of the law of 



24 

Congress, and in violation of the law of Georgia, as Mr. 
Caldwell has shown you. Thus has your authority been 
defied ; thus has the law been overridden, and thus has the 
General Assembly of Georgia been illegally organized. 

We appear before you to ask that you will vindicate your 
authority ; that you will not allow any person to violate your 
laws, no matter what may be his position. General Terry 
is a man for whom I have a high regard — I may almost say 
affection — but if he were my brother, I would not approve 
of his acts. If an officer of the army may, with impunity, 
violate one of your laws, what law may not military officers 
violate, and what will become of our Kepublic? I am un- 
able to account for the course pursued by General Terry, 
unless he was first led by cunning men to take a position 
which was not a violation of law, but that he was led on, 
step by step, until he did violate the law. I believe that 
General Terry has been governed by honest motives, and 
that in the name of loyalty he has been induced to do what, 
in my opinion, he would not do again under similar circum- 
stances. General Terry is a distinguished officer of the Ee- 
public. No man admires his course during the War more 
than I do ; but I cannot believe that Congress Avill sustain 
even so distinguished an officer when he violates the law. 

A committee of Kepublican citizens of Georgia, several of 
whom are members of the General Assembly of that State, have 
come to Washington for the purpose of informing Congress 
that the act to promote reconstruction in that State has been 
violated, and to ask that the General Assembly may be reor- 
ganized in accordance with law. Mr. Caldwell and myself 
appear before you to-day to represent that committee. It 
has been stated that we come to Washington a self-constituted 
committee ; that the great mass of our people, both Repub- 
licans and Democrats, are opposed to any further legislation. 
I pronounce the statement false, no matter from whom it 
may come. Our people have been shocked by the usurpations 
of Governor Bullock, and I must confess frankly that very 
many of them have but little hope that Congress will inter- 



25 

fere. The Democratic party en masse oppose his policy, and 
80 do the ablest Republicans in Georgia. Such men as Chief 
Justice Brown, Hon. A. T. Akerman, the United States dis- 
trict attorney, and Hon, Joshua Hill, the great Union leader 
of Georgia, do not sustain him. There are two Republican 
organizations in Georgia. We represent one of those organ- 
izations — "The National Republican Club of Georgia" — 
which numbers among its members many of the ablest 
Republicans in that State. We have been sent here by that 
club. We are Republicans, and not Democrats ; and as 
Republicans we expose the usurpations of a Republican gov- 
ernor, whom we all supported, and whom some of us did 
much to elect. We do this with regret, but we do it from a 
sense of duty to our State and to our party. 

I am chairman of a committee whicb represents a majority 
of the legally elected members of the General Assembly, and 
I know that I represent them when I say to you that our 
General Assembly has been illegally organized_, and that we 
desire that it shall be reorganized in accordance with law. 

It is natural that you should ask us what good will be 
accomplished by a reorganization of our General Assembly. 
I will state briefly some of the means used by Governor 
Bullock and his ring to get control of that body, and what 
I believe to be the reasons that have induced him to labor 
with such desperation to secure the control of our legislature. 
The colored members of the General Assembly of Georgia 
were expelled in September, 1868. An appeal was made to 
Congress, signed by a large number of the Republican mem- 
bers of that body, praying that Congress would undo the 
wrong that had been done, and reseat the expelled members. 
Mr. Caldwell and myself united with the other Republican 
members in making that appeal. It was presented to Con- 
gress in December by Governor Bullock. He also presented 
a memorial to Congress upon the same subject, in which he 
advanced the idea that the legislature had not been legally 
organized, because the members were not required to take 
the '* test oath," and that on that account the State had not 



26 

been reconstructed. The entire Republican party of Georgia 
had recognized the fact that the State was reconstructed. 
Governor Bullock had taken that position also. He had 
been inaugurated as Governor; the military authority had 
been withdrawn ; United States Senators had been elected, 
and the Governor had given them certificates of election ; 
the State had cast its vote for electors of President and Vice 
President ; the Republican party, as well as the Democratic 
party, had nominated and voted for Republican candidates 
for electors of President and Vice President ; the Governor 
had performed the duties required of him by the constitution 
as Governor of the State, by issuing commissions to officers, 
approving bills passed by the legislature, signing warrants, 
drawing money from the treasury, &c. The theory of the 
Governor was startling to the thinking people of Georgia, 
both Republicans and Democrats. The ablest Republicans 
in the State opposed his policy. Mr. Sumner introduced a 
bill into the Senate to carry out the views of the Governor, 
and the fight commenced. It has been kept up from that 
time until now. We hoped and expected that it had ceased 
when the Carpenter bill was passed by Congress. The 
theory of Bullock had not been sustained by that body, but 
he appeared to yield in good faith. Soon after the legislature 
met we became satisfied that it was his intention to control 
the legislature by fraud and violence,, if it could be done in 
no other way. He resorted to the means that I have already 
mentioned to accomplish that result. Through all this con- 
troversy, from December, 1868, until now, he has manifested 
a willingness to take any position that was necessary for him 
to accomplish the great object — to get control of the legisla- 
ture. He performed all the duties of a governor, and claimed 
to be Governor until it was necessary to take the position 
that the State had not been reconstructed, that he might 
urge Congress to require the members of the General Assembly 
to take the " test oath " in the reorganization of that body. 
That he might secure the passage of a bill to reorganize 
the General Assembly, he told you that the seating of men in 



27 

the place of the expelled colored members was an outrage, 
because they did not have a majority of the votes cast ; but, 
to secure the control of the legislature, he now advocates the 
seating of men in the place of ineligible members who did 
not have a majority of the votes cast. Can you sustain such 
a man ? He has spent months of incessant labor to accom- 
plish his object. He has spent thousands of dollars. He 
has given costly dinners to Senators and members of Con- 
gress, that he might have a favorable opportunity to influence 
them in his behalf. Where did the money come from to 
pay all these expenses? The people of Georgia would like 
to know. Why all this extravagance ? It has been done 
in the name of loyalty, for the protection of the loyal people 
of Georgia and for the colored men, but I believe that he 
has been actuated by other motives — 

First. To elect Foster Blodgett to the United States Senate. 

Second. To sell to the State of Georgia the building now 
occupied as the Capitol, and known as Kimball's Opera 
House. 

Third. To cover up financial operations. 

Fourth. To carry out certain railroad schemes. 

Fifth. To get rid of the treasurer, that he may run his 
arms into the State treasury. 

To elect Foster Blodgett and get rid of Dr. Angier, the 
treasurer, it is not only necessary that he shall control the 
General Assembly, but it is also necessary that he shall take 
the position that all the legislation of the past two years has 
been illegal. Georgia is a great State. It is truly the em- 
p.re State of the South ; and it is simply monstrous to 
propose to rip up all this legislation to accomplish such a 

suit. He has illegally drawn from the bank in New York, 
where the State bonds are deposited, more than fifty thou- 
sand dollars — money belonging to the State of Georgia ; and 
to cover up this transaction it is, we believe, the intention of 
thi^ Governor and his friends to sell to the State for a capitol 
an unsuitable building at an exorbitant price. I am in- 
formed that never in the history of Georgia has money been 



28 

spent by a governor so lavishly as by Governor Bullock ; 
nevertheless the treasurer has saved thousands of dollars to 
the State by refusing to pay warrants signed by the Governor. 
The treasurer is, therefore, a dangerous man, and he must 
be put out of the way. 

I am aware, gentlemen, that I have made grave charges 
against Governor Bullock, but I believe that I can sustain 
them by proof, if you desire it. These, gentlemen, in ray 
opinion, are some of the reasons that have actuated Gov- 
ernor Bullock to make such desperate efforts to get control 
of our General Assembly. To accomplish these results he 
has passed sleepless nights, and has spent thousands of dol- 
lars, and at last was obliged to violate your law that he 
might succeed. If we can be allowed to organize our legis- 
lature in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law of 
Congress, Governor Bullock cannot control it, and we can 
save our State from being plundered. We shall have a 
Republican majority in both houses ; we will ratify the 
fifteenth amendment, and pass laws to protect our people. 

I appeal to you, gentlemen, to listen to our prayer, I 
appeal to you to assist us to save our State from ruin. 

Messrs. Foster Blodgett, E. Tweedy, Benjamin Conley, and 
Judges Harral, J. R. Parrott and Wm. Gibson, of Georgia, 
have come to Washington in the interest of Governor Bul- 
lock. Messrs. N. L. Angier, J. H. Caldwell, J. Bowles, C. 
K. Osgood, A. J. Williams and myself have come to oppose 
the schemes of Governor Bullock and represent the people 
of Georgia. We all claim to be Republicans. 

During the war. Governor Bullock had charge of owe 
division of the Southern Express Company, and in various 
ways assisted the rebels. I have already alluded to tie 
record of Mr. Blodgett. Mr. Tweedy was an officer in tie 
rebel army ; so was Judge Parrott, I have never heard any- 
thing of the record of Judge Harral. Judge Gibson wa.s a 
rampant rebel. He was colonel of a regiment in the confed- 
erate army, and since the war was elected judge, on accoi nt 
of his war record, over a Union man who was supported by 



29 

Union men. Mr. Conley was a Union man, and I believe 
him to be a good man ; I regret that he is in bad compan3^ 

Messrs. Bullock, Blodgett, Tweedy and Conley live in 
Augusta, and belong to a ring that now control the Repub- 
lican party in the interest of Blodgett and Bullock. Gibson, 
Parrott and Harral are judges of the superior courts, and 
must obey the commands of their masters, or lose their posi- 
tions if Bullock is successful. None of these men except 
Judge Parrott did much to aid in the work of reconstruc- 
tion, except as members of the Constitutional Convention. 
Judge Gibson opposed the Congressional plan of reconstruc- 
tion until the very day that Governor Bullock was elected, 
when he was suddenly converted. Paul was suddenly con- 
verted, but his was not a political conversion. Dr. Angier 
was a citizen of Georgia when the war begun. His office 
was the headquarters of the Union men of Atlanta, and 
when he found that the State would secede he left the State 
with his family. He has been a Republican since that time. 
Mr. Caldwell was a minister during the war and took no 
part in the rebellion. Colonel Bowles was an officer in the 
Union army. Mr, Osgood and Mr. Williams were Union men, 
and had nothing to do with the rebellion. As I have before 
stated^ I was an officer in the Union army during the war, 
and I have been a Republican from my boyhood. In short, 
our committee is composed of Union men, none of whom 
held office in the rebel army or aided the rebellion, and all 
have acted with the Republican party of Georgia since its 
organization. Some of our delegation did much to build 
up the Republican party in Georgia, and have labored hard 
on the stump and in the committee room to promote the 
cause of reconstruction ; but nearly all of the Bullock dele- 
gation were officers in the rebel army. Nevertheless, there 
are men who would make you believe that we are rebels and 
Democrats, while the Bullock committee are simon pure 
Union men and Republicans. 

Those with whom I act do not appeal to you as partisans. 
We appeal to you as Georgians. 



30 

We do not ask you to legislate for the Republican party, 
but we do ask that you will not legislate the Republican 
party of Georgia out of existence. We feel that we have a 
right to ask that. 

You passed the act to promote the reconstruction of Geor- 
gia because legally elected members had been illegally ex- 
pelled, and men who were not elected were voted into their 
seats. That was done by Democrats to get control of the 
General Assembly. Precisely the same thing has been 
done by Bullock and his friends, who claim to be Republicans. 
They have done it for the same reason the Democrats did — 
to get control of the General Assembly. When the Demo- 
crats did wrong you reorganized our General Assembly. I 
am convinced that you will compel Republicans to obey the 
laws as well as Democrats. If you do not, I assure you that 
the people of Georgia will overwhelmingly defeat the Repub- 
lican party at the next election. Up to this time Bullock 
and his friends are responsible for their illegal proceedings, 
and not the Republican party of Georgia, for enough Repub- 
licans have opposed his schemes to prevent the party from 
being responsible for his acts ; but if Congress and the na- 
tional Administration sustain the usurpation of Bullock, the 
Republican party of the nation becomes responsible for his 
acts. His policy becomes the policy of the national Repub- 
lican party. I ask you, gentlemen, can the party carry such 
a load? If you seat Foster Blodgett in the chair of Web- 
ster, of Clay, or of Calhoun, will it not be a little bigger load 
than the party can carry ? I think so^ gentlemen ; and, 
therefore, as a Republican, I ask that you will not legislate 
the party out of existence both in Georgia and in the other 
States of the Union. I have great confidence in New Eng- 
land ; she can carry a pretty big load ; but I fear that Blodg- 
ett and Bullock would be a little too much, even for the 
land of the Puritans. What would become of New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana if an appeal is 
taken from you to the people, as it will certainly be in a few 
months, if you sustain the usurpations of these bad men? 






31 



I repeat, gentlemen, that I do not ask you to legislate for 
the Republican party, but you know that we have a wily 
opponent, ready to take advantage of every mistake we make. 
I see before me one of the ablest leaders of the party opposed 
to us. What can we say when these men go before the peo- 
ple and tell them that a military commission decided the 
question of the eligibility of the members of a legislative 
body ; that duly elected representatives of the people who 
had qualified according to law were expelled by a military 
order ; that Congress permitted this outrage upon American 
liberty to be perpetrated by sustaining the perpetrators ; 
that when Democrats put minority candidates in the place 
of ineligible members, it was considered an outrage ; that 
when Republicans did the same thing, they were not inter- 
fered with ; that when the Republican ox was gored Con- 
gress interfered, but when the Democratic ox was gored 
Congress refused to take notice of the offence ; that to send 
to the United States Senate a rebel officer who had falsely 
taken the ^Hron-clad" oath to get an office, and was under 
indictment for perjury in a United States court, the legisla- 
tion of two years' standing was ripped up ; that business 
transactions involving millions of dollars were cancelled ; 
that an honest treasurer, a Union man and a Republican, 
was put out of office that a corrupt ring might thrust their 
arms into the treasury of the State and plunder an impov- 
erished people? 

If we answer that all this has been done in the name of 
loyalty, will not the people reply, Oh ! loyalty ; what crimes 
are committed in thy name ! 

But, gentlemen, you are statesmen ; you know what is 
best to be done in our case, and I feel assured that you will 
not sustain these bad men ; I feel assured that you will do 
right. You have been sustained by the people thus far, and 
I believe that you will so act that they will sustain you in the 
future as in the past. We have attempted to state to you, 
truthfully and frankly, our condition ; we have come several 
hundred miles to lay these facts before you and to make 



32 

this appeal ; we have done our duty ; we believe that you 
will do yours as honestly as we have done ours ; we leave 
our case in your hands, begging you to remember that a 
million of people watch with anxiety for your decision. 

A Northern man by birth, a Georgian by adoption, a Union 
soldier, a Eepublican, I appeal to you to save my State from 
this "ring" of bold, bad men, who have, by violence and 
fraud, got control of the legislature of the State. 

J. E. BRYANT. 

P. S. — I hand you herewith the argument of Hon. Geo. N. 

Lester, of Georgia, against the "provisional" idea of Gov. 

Bullock. 

J. E. B. 



APPENDIX 



GOVERNOR BULLOCK S FINANCIAL OPERATIONS, 

The following drafts were drawn by Governor Bullock on 
the Fourth National Bank, New York, the amounts not 
reported by him or paid into the State treasury, but used by 
him without any appropriation, and in direct violation of law : 

No. New York, October 29, 1,868. 

Fourth National Bank of the city of New York, pay to the 
order of C. Burk seventeen thousand dollars. 

RUFUS B. BULLOCK, 

Governor of Georgia. 

No. New York, December 3, 1868. 

Fourth National Bank of the city of New York, pay to 
the order of R. B. Bullock eight thousand dollars. Charge 
account of State. 

RUFUS BULLOCK, 

Governor of Georgia. 

December 12, 1868. 
Pay to the order of H. F. Kimball ten thousand dollars, 
and charge same to the account of the State of Georgia. 

RUFUS B. BULLOCK, Governor. 
To the Fourth National Bank, New York. 

The house adopted a report — 86 to 37 — in reference to the 
above illegal proceedings, in which it states : " No emergency 
existed which demanded of Governor Bullock this extraordi- 
nary departure from the law. His Excellency acted in direct 
violation of the known will of the legislature." 

Besides the above $35,000 illegally drawn and used by 
him without warrant or appropriation^ in open defiance of 
law, after being fully put upon his notice by the General 



34 

Assembly by a vote of over two to one, the Governor went 
directly to New York and drew the following draft: 

$20,000. New York, iMarcli 27, 1869. 

At sight, pay to the order of H. F. Kimball twenty thou- 
sand dollars, value received, and charge the same to the 
account of the State of Georgia. 

RUFUS B. BULLOCK, Governor. 
To the Fourth National Bank, New York. 

None of which has ever found its way into the State 
treasury, thus assuming arbitrary powers, wilfully overriding 
both the constitution and the laws. 

He has paid attorneys over fifteen thousand dollars, nine 
thousand of which was paid in less than thirty days, 
as retainers, hoping to buy influence. 

On the 21st of November, 1868, the cashier of the Georgia 
National Bank presented the Governor's draft on the Fourth 
National Bank of New York for $25,000, and voluntarily 
states that it was to cover Governor Bullock's individual in- 
debtedness to this bank. 

The General Assembly appropriated as the salary of the 
attorney general $2,000 ; the Governor has paid him over 
$6,000. 

He has paid out of the State treasury nearly two thou- 
sand dollars to light Kimball's Opera House, when the build- 
ing had not been used for State purposes over six times at 
night, none of the State offices being kept open nights. 

He has paid under a pretence as guard of Executive Man- 
sion, at Milledgeville, $1,400 a year, when responsible par- 
ties in that city propose to take special care of the buildings 
and grounds solely for the use of the grounds. 

In 1868, he paid eight Executive clerks, besides his two 
secretaries, when the law allowed only the two secretaries. 

Last year the legislature restricted him to one clerk, be- 
sides his two secretaries ; he has drawn his warrants for five, 
besides his secretaries. 

The appropriations for 1868 were only for the latter half 
of the year 1868. Still, for the public printing of 1869, 
he, in violation of law, drew ten thousand back on 1868, 



36 

notwithstanding the house, by a vote of over three to one, di- 
rected him to charge it as an advance on the printing fund of 
1869. This he did that he might save his $25,000 printing 
fund to silence the mouths of the press. 

By a false construction of the 23d section of the appropri- 
ation bill, he has drawn warrants for over one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, mostly of the class that have heretofore been 
drawn on the contingent fund. This is independent of the 
contingent fund of $20, 000, which, allhut a few dollars, he ex- 
hausted in less than six months, mostly for incidental expenses 
of executive department. He drew warrants for $6,000 for 
arresting three fugitives, and they all absconded shortly af- 
ter the warrants were drawn. From $50 to $200 has here- 
tofore been the rewards for fugitives. 

As an evidence of his interest in the Kimball Opera House, 
a portion of which is temporarily used as a State house, he 
labored to secure tlie influence of the State treasurer in favor 
of paying said Kimball $25,000 yearly rent for only a por- 
tion of the least valuable part of a building that could not 
have cost Kimball over $100,000, reserving to himself all the 
first-story front on tlie main street, most the entire base- 
ment, and a large number of rooms in the upper two stories. 
The acknowledged purpose of the Bullock ring is to sell this 
house to the State for $400,000, that could not have cost 
Kimball over $150,000 with all its fixtures. 

The law requires the net earnings of the Western and 
Atlantic railroad (which road belongs to the State) to be 
paid into the State treasury monthly. The payment for the 
month of September is the last that has been received. Gov- 
ernor Bullock is the chief officer of the road. Former admin- 
i.stratious paid into the State treasury, of net earnings, from 
$30,000 to $50,000 monthly. The road is a main trunk 
road, and said^ by the best of judges, to be doing more busi- 
ness now than it ever did before. Captain Jones, who had 
been State treasurer eight years, in his report of July 1, 
1867, puts the net earnings at $50,000 per month through 
the year. The Macon and Western railroad, which is one 



36 

of three roads fed from this State trunk, and but little over 
half as long as the State trunk, pays of net earnings about 
$30,000 a month. The other two in about the same propor- 
tion. Certain amounts are known to have been paid and 
loaned to individuals, not for any service in behalf of the 
road, but as is believed to purchase influence and adherents. 
The recipients are mostly Democrats, or so claim, who sustain 
Bullock, but abuse President Grant and the Republican mem- 
bers of Congress and their policy. 

There are many other illegal transactions which we have 
not space to mention. 

N. L. ANGIER, 

Treaturer of Georgia. 
Washington, D. C, February 9, 1870. 



Before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, on Satur- 
day, February 12, 1870, Judge Gibson, in behalf of 
Governor Bullock, read an argument, to which — 

Mr. Caldwell replied in substance as follows : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Judiciary Committee : 

Governor Bullock's counsel, Judge Gribson, asserts that 
there was " no loyal government in Georgia " prior to the pas- 
sage of the late act of Congress to promote reconstruction in 
that State. I Avill, as briefly as possible, answer the general 
assumption which seems to underlie his statement, viz, that if 
the present organization of the legislature is set aside as ille- 
gal, it will be reorganized in such way as to give up the con- 
trol of the body to persons who are not " loyal ;" that is, to 
Democrats. I have shown in the statement I made before you 
on Wednesday last, that the original composition of the Gen- 
eral Assembly was decidedly Republican, If that legislature 
did some bad things, it should be remembered that Republi- 
cans helped to do these bad things, and many of those who did 
so are now acting with the Governor. What guarantee have 
you, then, that when left to themselves they will not do 
other things equally bad? There were several strict party 
votes, among them that which elected the speaker, from 
which it appeared that there was a Republican majority 
of one in the house and twelve in the senate. Since then 
the Republican majority has been increased by the deaths 
which have occurred. 

Had each member been left to his own conscience, in the 
late organization, to qualify or not, just as the law allowed 
him to do, still holding him amenable in case of perjury, it 
is likely that a sufficient nnmber would have refused to 
qualify to make a Republican majority in the two houses of 
fifteen or twenty. Some viewed the oath prescribed in the last 
act as more stringent than any previously required, and no 



38 

amount of persuasion could have induced them to take it , 
while others, who felt that they could conscientiously take 
it, were threatened and intimidated so that they refused to 
qualify. If those who have been put in as minority candi- 
dates were expelled, and others who were deterred from 
swearing were allowed to resume their places, the body 
would still not be under the control of those whom the 
learned judge noiv regards as disloyal ; that is, of Demo- 
crats. I inferred, from conversing privately with two 
of the learned judges who are engaged in this defence of 
Governor Bullock's policy, that Congress would not act on 
this case in a way to take the legislature out of the hands of 
Republicans and give it into the hands of Democrats. While 
I have shown that a fair and just enforcement of your law 
will not give the control of the legislature to the Democrats, 
I insist that you will not allow the law to be violated simply 
in order to give the control to the Republicans. We have the 
assurance from you that '' justice and fair dealing" shall be 
the rule of your action ; and any argument which assumes 
that mere party ascendancy will be the rule, is a tacit im- 
peachment of your integrity as honorable and fair-minded 
legislators. Supposing, then, that the minority men were 
excluded from the house of representatives, how would the 
matter stand in that branch of the legislature ? The late elec- 
tion for speaker shows that McWhorter, Governor Bullock's 
candidate, received 76 votes, and Col. Bryant 54. Five 
Democrats voted for McWborter, and five scattered, making 
ten. Bryant received six Republican and forty-eight Demo- 
cratic votes. From this there a})pears to have been, at that 
time, seventy-two Republicans and fifty-eight Democrats in 
the house ; so it would require the admission of fifteen Demo- 
crats to overcome the Republican majority in that branch, 
and an equal number, 1 think, would be re(iuired in the 
senate. 

The minority candidates were seated after the election of 
speaker, but belbre the election of the other officers. No cal- 
culations of a permanent Republican majority should be con- 



39 

sidered in thesettlement of this question, which is one of law 
and justice and good faith. After all, such calculations 
might prove disastrous. It was Speaker McWliorter's rul- 
ings which led to the expulsion of the colored members, and 
many of the Bullock Republicans " dodged" the question, or 
voted against them. 

Your attention has been directed to the leading idea of the 
Governor's party, viz: that the purpose of the late act of 
Congress was to set aside the first organization of the legis- 
lature as illegal, and render all its acts void, and especially 
to invalidate the election of United States Senators and State 
house officers. This construction of the meaning of the act 
grounds itself upon the idea that the number of ineligible 
persons supposed to be in the body vitiated the whole body 
and all its acts. 

Now, if we grant that all were really ineligible that Gov- 
ernor Bullock, Judge Gibson, and the other learned judges* 
with him claim, I would respectfully ask if their conclusion 
would be legitimate? The Governor's party claim that 
twenty-eight have been declared ineligible, though the judg- 
ment of the military board was actually pronounced in only 
five cases — three in the house and two in the senate. The 
larger number would only be about one-eighth of the whole 
body of representatives and senators. Can any number less 
than a quorum of disqualified persons in each house disable 
the whole body from acting legally? Is not a quorum of 
properly qualified members competent to act ? May not such 
a body pass any law or do any other act common to legisla- 
tive assemblies that is not repugnant to the constitution 
which confers such powers upon a quorum ? 

Is there any example in the history of legislation, any pre- 
cedent in parliamentary law, to show that a constitutional 
quorum is not a competent legislative body ? If not, how 
can the presence of one-eighth of the whole number, being 
ineligible, invalidate all the proceedings of the body ? How 

*Judge3 Parrot and Harrall. 



40 

many ineligible persons in such a body are necessary to make 
the body illegal and vitiate all its acts, if less than a quorum 
can doit? If any number less than a quorum can do it, 
what shall be said of the present organization, with eight 
ineligible persons in one branch and two in the other? We 
have shown that minority candidates were seated, and 
that in violation of the act of Congress, of the Code of Georgia, 
and of parliamentary law in general. Some of them are 
doubly ineligible. I mention the case of James L. Dunning, 
the postmaster at Atlanta. He was not elected by a major- 
ity — his name does not appear in General Meade's proclama- 
tion of June 25, 1868 — and yet he was seated in the place of 
Mr. Winn, who was declared ineligible by the military. 
At the same time that he thus holds a seat in the Georgia 
senate, he is the regular postmaster at Atlanta, under a com- 
mission from the President of the United >States. Holding 
these two positions at the same time, and enjoying the emol- 
uments of both;, he violates the constitution of the State, 
which he has sworn to support. 

In reply to the questions generally which you have put to 
me, I will state that I express the views of nearly the entire 
delegation when I say that all we desire, all we ask for, is a 
stable, good government for the State of Georgia. We have 
only asked for a remedy for existing evils ; a redress of the 
wrongs of which we have complained. We are willing for 
Congress to apply the remedy, to point out the mode of 
redress, and to save our State from calamity which will in- 
evitably befall it if Governor Bullock's policy is carried out. 
We do not ask for a reorganization of the present legislature 
unless Congress chooses to relieve us in that way. We care 
but little for the irregularities of the 'present organization, 
and are willing for it to stand if Governor Bullock may not 
be allowed to carry out his ruinous designs. If you suffer 
everything that preceded the ''^Act to promote reconstruc- 
tion" to be ripped up and official terms to be extended 
as the Governor proposes, it will throw us into inextricable 
confusion, and perhaps involve us in financial ruin. If 



41 

you recognize the validity of the legislature prior to the 
expulsiou of the colored members, let all the acts of the 
body up to that time stand ; admit the present senators 
elect, and confine the official terms within the limits pre- 
scribed by the ordinance of the convention and the con- 
stitution, we are content, though we are confident that some 
members are excluded who are justly entitled to their seats. 
I am as anxious for peace, quiet, and good government as is 
Judge Gibson ; I have labored four years for reconstruction, 
and during much of that time he was violently opposed to 
the reconstruction acts of Congress. 

If my verbal answers to your questions in relation to the 
senatorial election are correctly reported, I think in one of 
them I must have made an erroneous impression. If so, I 
desire to correct it in this printed statement. In the tabu- 
lar statement of that vote which is appended to the remarks 
I made on Wednesday I show that Governor Brown was 
elected, but I did not mean that all who are declared inel- 
igible are really so. All my arguments have been designed 
to show that some were unfairly prevented from qualifying, 
and it only requires two of this latter class who voted for 
Mr. Hill to elect him. I believe that there are several who 
voted for him who are not ineligible under the 14th article. 
In fact, they all took an oath in July, 1868, that they were 
not disqualified by the 14th article. 

In Teferring to irpeligible members of the legislature, in 
the appendix, I apply the term to designate those who were 
found ineligible by the military commission, or declined, 
neglected, or refused to take either of the oaths prescribed 
by the act uAder which the legislature was convened by the 
Governor. I desire not to be understood as assenting to the 
ineligibility of these members. Three of them, Messrs. 
George, Hudson, and Penland, members of the House, were 
clearly of opinion that they were eligible, but were sensitive 
and preferred not to serve. Like some others, they would 
not incur the slightest odium to retain their seats. 

Mr. George was elected without opposition by a constitu- 



42 

ency numbering three colored voters to one white, on ac- 
count of his eligibility under the election order of General 
Meade. Mr. Penland is said never to have held office prior 
to the war, and was a decided Union man. Mr. Hudson was 
forced by conscription to take refuge in a petty office, to es- 
cape military service. These gentlemen voted for Mr. Hill. 

I do not consider that the ineligibility of members of the 
legislature, if, indeed, any exists, has been legally adjudi- 
cated or ascertained. Col. Bryant and myself, as also Chief 
Justice Brown^ were decided friends of Governor Bullock's 
administration, as long as we could conscientiously defend 
it. Col. B. and myself voted for the Chief Justice against 
Mr. Hill, and neither of us supported Mr. Miller. After 
the election was over, with all the facts fresh in our recol- 
lections, we were constrained to agree with the Chief Justice 
that it was regular and legal, and ought not to be disturbed. 
Such, too, was the opinion of District Attorney Akerman, 
for whom we also voted, against Mr. Miller. 

But why canvass this vote at all ? Did not the credentials 
of Hill and Miller, which were signed officially by the Gover- 
nor, certify that they were legally elected? and is not this a 
stronger evidence of their right to be seated than any that 
his Excellency has since adduced to prove the contrary ? 

GOVERNOR bullock's PERSONAL ATTACK. 

It was not my intention, in any of my remarks, to allude 
to Governor Bullock in disrespectful terms. I undertook to 
show wherein I believed that he had done wrong ; and in 
doing so, it was necessary to name him repeatedly ; but 1 
did so respectfully, and with a proper regard 'for the high 
office which he fills. Instead of answering my arguments 
in a fair and candid way, he endeavors to lessen their force 
by a personal assault. I allude to the letter of Foster Blodg- 
ett in relation to myself, which the Governor has seen lit 
to publish in his pamphlet. In regard to Mr. Blodgett, 1 
have said nothing, except to mention him as one who was 
voted for in the election for Senators. That gentleman has 



43 

attained so unenviable a reputation, notoriety, throughout the 
country that I did not see fit to allude to him in any other con- 
nection tiian the one stated. His letter to Governor Bullock 
discloses one of his characteristic traits, and is a specimen of 
what are commonly called in Georgia '' Blodgett Tricks." 
He professes to be " very much astonished" at my opposing 
the organization of the legislature, as if my opposition was 
a new thing, which he had just found out on the day that he 
wrote the letter. His Excellency seems also to have shared 
his surprise, else why did he publish the letter ? They botli 
knew that from the day the General Assembly met I have 
not ceased in the most open and public manner to oppose the 
organization of the legislature on Governor Bullock's plan. 
They both know that for more than twelve months I have, 
with other Republicans of my State^ in the most public man- 
ner, opposed Governor Bullock's line of policy. They both 
know that I was one of the first to take a firm stand against 
that policy, and that I was supported in it by such men as 
Governor Brown, Colonel Akermau, and many of the ablest 
Republicans in the State ; that I came with a delegation to 
Washington last March on purpose to labor, and that I did 
labor to defeat that policy. 

My reason for laying these personal matters before the 
committee is to show the methods by which Governor Bul- 
lock and Mr. Blodgett have sought to have the legislature 
organized in their own interest. The letter refers to a con- 
versation between Mr. Rice, a member of the legislature, and 
myself, in regard to the United States Senatorship, and 
uniting the Republican party. I am represented as request- 
ing Mr. Rice to say to Mr. Blodgett that if the party would 
elect me Senator for the long term, I would "sustain Gov- 
ernor Bullock, and work to unite the Republicans on the 
same line." I deny that I authorized Mr. Rice, or any one 
else, to convey such a message from me to Mr. Blodgett. 
There was a conversation between Mr. Rice and myself, as 
there was between others and myself, on that subject, but 
nothing transpired of a nature to commit me to a support of 



44 

Governor Bullock's policy. I labored to unite the Republi- 
cans until the task became hopeless. My plan of harmony 
was very difterent from Governor Bullock's. My plan was 
to unite on the restoration of colored members, the ratifica- 
tion of the 15th article, and general amnesty — relief from 
all political disabilities. Governor Bullock's plan, ever 
since the exj)ulsion of the colored members, was to get Con- 
gress to pass a bill, not merely to restore the colored mem- 
bers, but to declare the legislature illegal, in order to procure 
another senatorial election. All the time believing that 
Messrs. Hill and Miller were duly elected, I knew the party 
could not be united on any senatorial election. The issue 
was never a personal one, but one of principle and moral 
right. 

I may mention some other " tricks " of Mr. Blodn;ett and 
the Governor to " unite " the party on their plan. 

x\bout the same time that the conversation with Mr. Rice 
occurred, Mr, A. L. Harris^ the Governor's clerk pro tern., 
and railroad supervisor, said to me that I should have any 
place I wanted in his department if I would yield my oppo- 
sition to the Governor. About two days before, a minister 
of the gospel came to me and said that one of the Governor'.^ 
employees, on the State road, had called on him, and desired 
him to convey a message from the Governor, Mr. Blodgett, 
and Colonel Farrow to me, the purport of which was that I 
should have choice positions ibr myself and son, and for my 
two brothers and their sous, if I would fall in line with them. 
The messenger stated, also, that an interview was desired by 
all the parties. I declined the interview. A few days after 
this, my two brothers came to me, and, with tears in their 
eyes, entreated me to yield for their sakes. I answered them 
that I would stand or fall upon the right. 

By i'raud, treachery, violence, and attempts at bribery, the 
Governor and his friends have labored to secure a legislature 
which they hoped to make entirely subservient to their wishes. 
How far they have succeeded by such means I do not i)retend 
to say. There is one rule, however, by which the people of 



46 

the State will judge. There were thirty-six Republican 
members of the General Assembly who refused, in 1868, to 
vote for Foster Blodgett. How many will vote against him 
in 1870 remains to be seen. 

Governor Bullock's report of my first argument before the 
committee is incorrect. He has had several statements altered 
to serve his own purpose, so as to make me say things which 
seem to favor his views. The printed copies which we have 
submitted contain my remarks just as I delivered them, ex- 
cept one or two corrections in regard to the vote for senators. 
The Governor tries habitually to practise deception among 
all with whom he has any dealings of a political character^ 
and this peculiarity accounts for his estrangement from some 
of the most distinguished members of the Republican party 
in Georgia. 

They saw that instead of directing his administration, as 
a wise tuler should, to gain the confidence and good-will of 
the people of the State, he aimed steadily at merely selfish 
ends. The popular discontent in Georgia is, in a great de- 
gree, attributable to the belief that Governor Bullock's 
maladministration of the State government meets the ap- 
proval of Congress and the Executive. The fact that several 
of the most talented Republicans of the State condemn his 
persistent efforts to keep alive agitation, serves to convince 
the people that they can have no repose while the Governor 
" has his sway." 

This will not be wondered at when one of the Governor's 
most prominent judicial appointees has declared that " there 
could be no peace in Georgia until Mr. Blodgett was elected 
aU. S. Senator." 










014 418 848 2' 




